Great Harvest Field Trip

A few weeks ago, some ladies in my ward took our kids on a "field trip" to Great Harvest bread company. It is a fun outing for the kids where they see how they make bread and decorate a cookie and, of course, have free samples!!!

I love this picture of Abigail because she looks so excited to answer the question AND she raised her hand.

Wow, that is a large dough hook. They said they do over a hundred loaves at a time.

Even Asher was getting in on the action.

Asher was actually entertained for more than 10 minutes. I was very impressed. But don't be fooled, after 10 minutes he thought he could run the store and had me running all over the place for him. :)

I have a Ten Year Old!

I feel like such a bad mom. Since I have had this blog, I have always posted a birthday post for each of our kids on or before their birthday. It is now November and almost 4 weeks past Austin's birthday and still no post! I am sorry little buddy!

My amazing, talented, heck-a smart, helpful, hard-working son -- he is 10! I can't believe it! I have a 10 year old! As sad as it makes me that my kids are getting older much faster than I want, I love the stage that Austin is at. He is old enough to basically take care of himself (although he would probably never shower or brush his teeth if I didn't make him). He is helpful with his younger siblings. He can help his dad in the yard or around the house. He whines a little (OK, sometimes a lot) but I think he is one of the most hard-working kids I know. He is super smart...smarter than me. The little stinker knows it too! He is usually right (just like his dad). At least I am smarter than Abigail and Asher (for now). :)

Austin has already read all 4 Children's Scripture readers. He loves to read so we said that we would give him $50 if he read the Book of Mormon all the way through by the end of the year. I know! I know! Maybe bribing your kid to have a testimony isn't the best way to go about it but hopefully it works! HeHe. He was hesitant at first because he said that he wouldn't understand it and that it would be boring. We told him once he got into it a little then we would help him to understand it better and that there were battles and bloodshed so it gets a little more interesting too. Once he started he would ask us questions that showed how much he really understood. He was asking things that even I didn't know. I had to send him to his dad. They sparked great discussions. Even though bribing probably isn't the best way to do it, Austin will have read the Book of Mormon before he is 11! Chris finished it in the MTC. I read it completely with Chris when I was 18. He is already talking about being excited to start the Doctrine and Covenants and the Old and New Testaments. I hope he can stick with it (without getting paid for it)!

One of Austin's greatest traits is his commitment to what he is doing or interested in. He rotates between Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ninja Turtles and currently we are back to Transformers. Everything he does revolves around this subject! We have to tell him to STOP talking about it because he gets so obsessed with every aspect of it. But you can definitely say he is committed! :) I love this kid! I am so grateful that he is part of our family.

Smells Like Chicken

I am horrible at writing down my kids funny sayings. But this is one that is definitely for the books. Here is a conversation I had with Asher today:

Mom: Asher, I need to change your diaper. You are stinky.

Asher: Smells like CHIC-KEN!

I couldn't help but laugh and I laughed even harder because he was laughing at himself because he thought he was so funny. Which he was.

And here he is trying to wear mascara as lipstick.

"Oh look, another photo op....cheese."

Halloween X3

I love Halloween as much as the next guy but when you have to dress up your four little munch-kins three days in a row, you really are glad that it is 365 days (give or take a few) until you have to do it again. This year we had three very fun and festive Halloween nights: school carnival, family Halloween birthday party and, of course, Halloween night.

I am not sure where my kids get it because neither their dad nor I are extremely theatrical. But my kids are definitely posers! I have to tell them to act normal. I am glad they are like that because Chris and I are so boring. They make our house loud, entertaining, a little obnoxious and happy!

My cheesy Zebra! Isn't he the cutest little Zebra you have ever seen?

I am probably (OK, I am) extremely biased, but I think my girls make the most beautiful Cinderellas. Allison was Cinderella a couple of years ago and just as beautiful as Abigail. Maybe it is the blond hair and fair complexion which is similar to the original Cinderella that makes them seem so authentic. Maybe it is the diamonds and sparkles I put all over their face (which is hard to see in the picture). Either way, they are the most beautiful Cinderellas I have ever seen. Not biased at all, right! :)

Abigail loved her gloves. They were her most favorite part of the costume. She kept asking me, "Can I put my gloves on now?" I kept making her wait because they were white and I didn't want to keep having to wash them between activities. In this picture she is showing them off.

I am not exactly sure what Allison is. The package of the costume said "Skull Dress." So does that make her a skull lady? I dunno. I also bought her these fake red nails with bats on them that she LOVED! In this picture she is showing how cool they are. :)

I don't tell her to pose...she just does it. She would probably make a good model except for the fact that I would NEVER want her to be one. She says she wants to be a doctor anyway. Phew!

This is Austin completely in character.

Once again with the poses.

And the theatrics. Don't ask me why he is stabbing himself? His sisters thought he was hilarious.

This is Allison with her two cousins at the In-Tune Halloween performance.

Chris's cousin throws the cutest parties with the funnest games. She had the kids get into two teams and dress the kids like mummys which is a lot harder than it looks. This is Allison dressed as a mummy. She had black lights on to enhance the effect. She also played musical chairs Halloween bingo. It is a mix between musical chairs and bingo played with "headstone"names.